Student Leaders

Anna Patten ('14)
Co-Chair
Anna was born and raised in Tempe, Arizona. She is a junior pursuing a double major in Russian studies and International Relations. She has been a member of the Tufts ALLIES chapter for two years and is be one of two student leaders for the 2012-2013 school year. Through ALLIES, Anna traveled to the Republic of Panama to study the demilitarization of their police forces in June 2012. Later that summer, she worked as an intern for the Air Force General Counsel in Washington, DC. 

Aparna Ramanan, ('13)
Co-Chair
Aparna is a senior from sunny San Jose, California, majoring in International Relations, focusing on the Middle East/South Asia. In addition to serving as co-chair of ALLIES, she is a member of the International Relations' Director's Leadership Council and has previously served as the logistics director for ALLIES, as well as the director of FieldEx (Field Exercise in Peacekeeping and Stability Operations). This past summer, she worked as a research intern on global trends for the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC. Additionally, Aparna spent the last year researching the Egyptian military and the role of SCAF in the transition, and received funding to do research in Cairo. This fall, she interned at the Project on Justice in Times of Transition in Cambridge.

Rebecca Dewey ('15)
Financial Director
Becca is a sophomore International Relations and Environmental Studies major. She is the Treasurer of the Tufts ALLIES chapter and a member of the FieldEx planning committee. Becca works both for Tufts University IT and the Tufts Scene Shop building theater sets. Last year she was a student in the EPIIC Conflict in the 21st Century class and was a member of the EPIIC Symposium planning committee. 

Maria Oparil ('14)
Media and Web Director
Maria hails from Washington, DC. She is a junior majoring in Political Science, with minors in Economics and Communications and Media Studies. This makes her one of the few domestic-policy focused members of ALLIES. As a member of since freshman year, Maria has represented Tufts at the Student Conference on United States Affairs at West Point Military Academy and participated in FieldEx. Maria spent the summer of 1012 working for the Canadian Military, under the Public Affairs Attache at the embassy in Washington. 

Philip Ballentine ('14)
Logistics Director
Philip Ballentine is studying International Relations (International Security focus) and Chinese language and culture. As the Logistics Director of ALLIES, he'll be coordinating travel and accommodations for visiting Mids and Cadets for our two annual conferences, smoothing communications between chapters, and doing miscellaneous planning. Previously, Philip served as ALLIES' first-ever Curriculum Director of ALLIES. He also created and moderated a panel on military security issues at the 2012 China-US Symposium, Tufts' largest undergrad-led conference with 450+ attendees. In the summer of 2012, Philip interned at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. He worked in the Center's National Security team, covering China issues.

Graham Starr ('15)
Logistics Director
Graham is a sophomore at Tufts pursuing a double major in International Relations and Physics. Originally from Mahwah, NJ, Graham joined ALLIES his Freshman year, hoping to get more involved in the International Security side of things. His interests include defense policy, reorganization of the military and its impact on civilian interaction, science and technology in international affairs, and security issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. A self-proclaimed "news junkie," Graham also enjoys and is interested in: urban development and architecture, environmentalism, photography, cosmology, and music.

Shan Zhi Thia ('15)
Programming Director
Shan Zhi is a sophomore looking to pursue a History and Peace and Justice Studies double major at Tufts. He also serves in the Republic of Singapore Navy, reinforcing his interests in military and security issues. 

Rithwik Hari ('15)
Curriculum Director
Rithwik Hari is a sophomore from Irvine, Califonia, majoring in International Relations and minoring in Chinese.  He has participated in numerous events as a member of ALLIES since the first semester of his freshman year, and was excited to get more involved in the organization.  Rithwik is extremely interested in the relations between the United States, China, and India, and loves viewing international relations through a civil-military perspective in ALLIES.

Michelle Cerna ('14)
Intelectual Roundtable Director
Michelle Cerna studies International Relations and German Studies, and takes courses in Russian language. She got involved with ALLIES her sophomore year and is most interested in how relations between the civilian and military sectors shape issues of foreign policy.